Choice Series 08: Family Matters
by shadowglove
Summary: Two months after Dean realized who he truly was, Chloe is his PA, and trying to not only find a Groom to get the Elders off of her back, but also muddle through the very confusing familiar ties everyone has with everyone else. And then Sam misunderstands.


**Disclaimer: Don't own Smallville/Supernatural**

Sequel to: Pop Goes The Weasel

A/N1: To help explain things, when talking about "Dean" I mean the him NOW, and when I refer to "Lucifer" I mean the him before he was trapped in 'The Box' by god.

A/N2: Just reminding readers that Chloe's thoughts about Sam are due to the fact that she has *no idea* that he's accepted his Demonhood and is transitioning.

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"Wait. I'm confused." Chloe raised her hands, unable to keep her perplexity silent or to herself anymore as she just _eyed_ him. "I thought _Ryan Reynolds_ was the one you big, strong, manly demons were all were lusting after." Her green gaze swept over Azazel's new host. "So _why_ are you wearing _Jude Law_?"

From where he was wiping at the grease from his hands, Dean Winchester, also known as Lucifer, Satan, or the Prince of Darkness, smirked. "I have to admit I've been curious myself."

Azazel, the third party in this meeting, made a face, smoothening down his meatsuit's...well...suit. "It's not a permanent arrangement, more like a temporary suit until I can find something less...recognizable."

Ever since Lucifer's energy and the other half of his soul had been sprung from the box it'd been imprisoned in two months ago, Chloe had become Dean's PA of sorts, and due to that she spent most of her time with him and thus with Azazel as well. She found it very ironic that she was spending most of her time with Sam's brother and biological father...and wondered if Sam even knew about who Dean really was. It'd been two months since Dean had fused with the other half of his soul, and had the fallen angel's energy meld into his body. It'd been two months since Dean had taken his position as head of the Underworld and of the demons and other such nasties who worshipped him.

And yet other than those major changes, Dean Winchester was still very much the guy he'd been before.

Chloe had never really been close to Dean, hadn't ever really sat down and had a one on one chat with him due to her being a demon and his being a hunter (which she now found utterly hysterical), but Sam had always talked a lot about Dean, and she'd gotten a good idea of what the man had been like before.

And he was still very much that man.

He even still worked at the shitty garage...because according to him it not only provided him with the perfect cover...but tinkering with cars was relaxing and something he enjoyed.

And he also still lived in his shitty little apartment.

The demons were all furious about that, wanting their king and creator to live like a...well..._king_. But they knew not to question him, and let him be...although Chloe knew that they had mansions and such ready for him the second he decided he was sick of living the way he was.

Probably the only thing different in Dean's human-half life was the fact that he'd actually _bought_ the garage he was working at, refusing to work under _someone else_, though she doubted that he'd told Sam or John about it. He wouldn't be able to explain how he'd gotten the money to actually buy the place.

Chloe sighed, gaze going to one of the cars Dean was working on.

Poor Sammy.

His father was one of the Highest Leveled demons...and his ex-girlfriend was steadily ascending the Demonic Hierarchy and was the personal assistant (which basically meant slave/babysitter) of his brother...who just so happened to be the Prince of Darkness.

She wondered how Sam would react if he found out he was just a demon magnet.

She also wondered how he was...

Chloe shook her head and looked away.

She always did her best not to think about Sam because if she did she'd miss him more than she already did and might forget her resolve to keep away from him and keep him safe from her ability to drain him of his _life_.

"And _what_ happened to your last skin that you had to abandon it?" Dean wanted to know, eyebrow raised as he threw the towel onto the table.

"I had a run in with John Winchester." Azazel's lips curled in distaste. "Long story short, my host got splashed with acid and I was forced to find other accommodations." He straightened his jacket. "I'm starting to get tired of John. I liked my last suit. I'd completely broken him in and he was _comfortable_."

Chloe wondered exactly how John Winchester's situation affected this or Dean's perception of him.

On one hand he was Dean's biological father since the fetus which had died weeks into conception, and Mary had been about to miscarry, was what Azazel had used to finish creating the host for the half of Lucifer's soul he'd been entrusted to take care of. So John Winchester _was_ the devil's father...but that was so confusing because that would make him Azazel's _grandfather_ in a sense, and Sam was _both_ Dean's brother _and_ his grandson!

And Chloe was in the mix herself. Dean could be considered her granduncle since _Lucifer_ was her granduncle due to Manny being the sole spawn of both Lucifer's fallen brother Zagan and sister Onoskelis, although Chloe had never met either of them and her father was very vague on where exactly her grandparents were at the moment. Dean was basically Lucifer 2.0, so he was her granduncle, and if things had worked out with Sam Dean would have been her brother-in-law _and_ grandfather-in-law as well! Also, now that she thought about it, Azazel was Manny's first cousin, so that made Sam her _second_ cousin!

Of course, given the fact that her grandparents were _whole_ brother and sister, it proved that things were different for angels and demons, but _still_!

It was utterly _twisted_, and she kinda thought Azazel (who-if things had worked out with Sam-would have been her cousin _and_ father-in-law) deserved the hell John Winchester gave him.

The only thing that made this seem sane to Chloe was that she really didn't consider Dean and Lucifer the same person, because the guy who she had to take care of? Well, that was _Dean Winchester_ with _very _ambiguous morals, inhuman powers, and a _lot_ of worshippers. Sure, he had the memories of heaven and the war and the _loss_, he also sometimes had nightmares about the 'The Box' (as he called his prison), but he was still very much _Dean_ with _Lucifer's memories_. And maybe a little of his attitude as well.

All in all though, it was confusing as hell.

As was the whole demon fertility thing that had the pureblooded male demons after her in _swarms_.

Thankfully, the fact that Dean was back and her direct boss had discouraged some of the less courageous of heart from pursuing her, but there were a good amount of them who still were trying to convince her to take them on as her Groom.

Apparently, from what she understood, very few female angels fell from grace. They were greatly outnumbered by the male fallen, and thus became what was known as the first "Pureblooded demon females". For a short period after the fall they still were fertile, thus pureblooded demons such as Azazel, Lilith, Belial, and Chloe's father were born...although Lilith explained that even then it was hard for the females to conceive, which was why many of the few pureblooded demons born around that time were only children, like Manny. The only one who'd managed three more than two offspring was Lucifer himself...

...Which, now that Chloe thought about it, meant that not only was Dean technically Azazel, Lilith and Belial's father...but Sam was their _uncle_...which meant that Sam was _his father's uncle_!

Chloe brought her hand to her throbbing head, so confused, so dazed.

She was getting off-track again with these confusing family matters.

She'd been thinking about the fertility issue.

Right.

So, from what Lilith (her first cousin!) had explained, to try and keep them from multiplying and trying for heaven again, God (Lucifer's father...Chloe's _great grandfather?_) had used his powers to instill something in his daughters from before their rebellion to slowly terminate their fertility if fallen. It had worked, and for a while they'd seemed doomed, until Lucifer had discovered a way of converting people's souls through fine tuning in hell to become demons as well by using his own energy. In that sense he was the Father of _all demons_, and they worshipped and adored him and probably _wished_ they were his real flesh and blood. Lucifer had also been the one to discover that there was a very rare gene that very few mortal women possessed which allowed them to conceive a Pureblooded Demon's child. That child would be a Nephilim, half human half Else, until the time would come for it to decide to be human or to follow in its father's demonic path. But there were too few women _ever to exist_ who'd had this gene, and there were very few Pureblooded Demons left, and also whenever the woman would conceive it was usually impossible for her to ever bare another child...so things were still very dire.

The purer the blood, the stronger the demon.

This was why Chloe was what Dean liked calling a 'hot commodity'.

They believed that due to her mutation, if she truly was fertile and bore children, that her daughters would be fertile _as well_ and in that sense Chloe would be the "Eve" of the Demon Race.

It was a lot to put on her shoulders, especially when she just couldn't see herself with anyone who wasn't Sam...

...and there was no way she could see Sam as a demon.

It was actually kinda _ridiculous_ to think of him as less than something sunny and sweet and incredibly _good_.

Sam just didn't have what it took to be a demon.

A real demon.

And he obviously had realized it...which was why he hadn't chosen his Demonhood and instead had chosen to remain a human.

She lowered her head.

It-it was better this way.

It _was_.

It _had_ to be.

"You're _completely_ ignoring us." Dean remarked, breaking her out of her thoughts. "What were you thinking about?"

"That this war with heaven is a family feud, like World War One." She replied without hesitation, making us her face. "And I'm realizing I'm related to _so_ many demons I know. And _closely_ related at that. I'm related to all the Pureblood's at least."

"There aren't many of us left." Azazel frowned darkly at the reminder.

Chloe nodded. "True."

Dean smirked. "But you're the key to changing that, aren't you?"

She flinched. "_Dean_."

He chuckled evilly, obviously enjoying how this made her cringe every single time he brought it up. "Had you chosen your humanity you wouldn't have had this problem."

He liked to point that out as well.

"Had I chosen my humanity you might still be in the box." Chloe reminded, eyes narrowed.

Usually she was only this way with Dean when they were alone, and acted very subservient when there were other demons around, but Azazel was almost always around and while he didn't approve of it at all, he was more accustomed to her brash, cheeky way with the Father of All.

Despite this, Azazel hissed in displeasure.

Dean was still, eyes narrowed on her in dangerous silence, before his lips suddenly tilted in a grin. "You've got a point there. Newbie or not, you pulled through where many Higher Level Demons failed _pitifully_. I have been considering demoting them." He leaned against one of the cars being worked on. "I honored the promises my bloodline made to you for your cooperation. No matter what happens in the future, your family and select friends and acquaintances will never be harmed or made to suffer in any way." He smirked. "I was shocked to see my name on the list of those to be protected from harm. Before I knew who I was, we weren't exactly close." He tilted his head slightly as he observed her. "I don't think I ever even called you by your name."

"No, it was usually Demon Chick or Hell Girl or some sort of variant of those names." Chloe agreed without any malice or hostility. "But it never really bothered me, and I put your name down for the same reason I put Bobby's despite the fact that I'm not that close to him either." She looked away, hating having to admit this, especially to Dean. "You two mean the _world_ to Sam. You're the most important people in his life, and he wouldn't want to be alive if you were gone."

Azazel and Dean shared silent, meaningful looks.

She didn't notice because she was still trying to gather her courage to look back at them, and once again fight the temptation to ask either of them how their human relative was doing. The demon figured they knew why she'd left Sam, her father would have told Azazel and if Dean asked Azazel would tell him anything, so the fact that neither of them brought up Sam or how he was doing meant something. Also, it wouldn't do any of them any good to dwell on the past.

And Sam was her past.

She wasn't demon enough to tempt him to come to the dark side...and her father was right. There was a time when she knew that if she'd just told Sam to accept his demon side he would have just because it was what she wanted...but she hadn't wanted that. She hadn't wanted him to do something for her and then years later hate himself or something and blame her for what he'd become. She'd gone through the process herself, knew how it changed you inside and out, and hadn't wanted Sam to go through that without being a hundred per cent sure that it was what _he_ wanted. She'd wanted him to do it. Yes. But she'd wanted him to do it because _he_ wanted to do it.

He hadn't.

He was dying because of it...

...Because she was there.

Now things were over and she needed to stop thinking with her heart and needed to think with her head.

Whether she wanted to or not she was going to have to marry someone.

As everyone kept stressing, she was fertile...was the first fertile female in countless millennia...it was imperative for the advancement of her race that she bare children and furthered the pure bloodlines. They weren't expecting her to start baring children right away. She was still very young, even in demon years, and now that she was working for Father himself no one could say that she didn't have more important things to do other than get pregnant.

Still, it would happen...and she refused to be forced to marry someone she just couldn't tolerate.

That was why she needed to pick her next Groom before the Elders got too impatient and picked someone for her.

Lilith had helped her figure that plan out, actually.

As the most powerful female demon had told her, she didn't need to _marry_ the demon now, only to state that she accepted him as her intended Groom. That in itself would calm the Elders and keep them off of her back for a couple of decades at _least_.

"Father, I am needed elsewhere." Azazel murmured, obviously sensing a Call.

"What you still doing here then?" Dean wanted to know.

In the blink of an eye, Azazel was gone, leaving Chloe and Dean alone.

"I haven't told him, you know." Dean surprised her by announcing. "About who I really am."

She looked up at him, eyes wide, knowing without a question whom he was referring to. "Oh."

"Yeah...despite my memories of being Luci...I still feel me..._Sam's big brother_." Dean admitted, sending her a sideways glance. "For now I think its best he doesn't know who I really am, and instead concentrate on his training."

She nodded, guessing Sam had gotten that internship at that law firm he'd really wanted to work in.

She was happy for him.

"I figure he'll find out soon enough, why rush it." Dean replied, that carefree smile of his hiding the fact that he was actually somewhat nervous, which was one of the many little quirks that made Dean the furthest thing from her image of "Satan"...which she admitted happily was a _very_ good thing.

"Well, what he feels for you isn't going to change...just like how yours didn't change when you found out he was Azazel's son." Chloe hugged herself. "It might take him a little bit to fully come around, but he will."

"You have so much faith in my brother in some things, and yet none at all in others." Dean commented oddly. "You should have just told him to become a demon for you. He would have done so, and this situation wouldn't be the way it is now."

She flinched, looking away. "Dean, Sam is your brother and you love him, I understand and accept that. But he's a part of my past. Nothing's going to change that. I'm moving on, just like I know he is."

Dean gave a soft, derisive laugh. "Moving on..._right_."

She flinched once more, realizing that it was probably very obvious for him and the other demons that she was _not_ moving on...was _fighting_ moving on.

Other demons must be laughing derisively at her as well.

"Yes, _moving on_." She put up a front, hoping her poker face was better than she feared. "Lilith and I have been going over candidates for Grooms. We've narrowed the list down considerably, and while I don't have a favorite just yet, I'm very confident that one will soon prove himself worthy of winning me over."

For some reason Dean didn't seem so pleased with this news, eyes narrowing. "Really."

"Yes." She nodded, chin high. "The Elders are pushing for me to choose someone, and I will. Soon."

"This isn't like human marriage, Chloe." Dean announced with a dark frown. "You can't just pick and choose on a whim just to get the Elders to stop pestering you. For us marriage is an extremely rare, terribly sacred event, and the bond of marriage lasts for as long as we live...and unless killed we will _never_ die."

Chloe frowned, gulping.

There was not _one_ candidate that she could see herself tied down to _forever_!

She was so screwed.

"You're the future of our race, Chloe." Dean's expression was terribly severe as he spoke. "This decision isn't to be rushed, and I forbid you to do so."

She bit her bottom lip, knowing if he forbade her there was really nothing she could say about it.

The blonde took in a deep breath. "The Elders...have also been considering an alternative to marriage...they're considering forbidding me to marry even if I wanted to. They say that since I'm the only fertile female...as they put it... it's wrong for just one bloodline to sow its seeds."

Once again Dean looked completely dumbstruck by what he obviously thought utter nonsense. "I have to leave now because Sam usually comes over to my apartment on Friday evenings to spend time together, but before you go I have another assignment for you." He reached out and placed his hand around her shoulders as he walked her to the door. "Obviously during my stint in the Box those who were left in charge became feeble-minded." He locked up the door and they walked towards where the Impala was parked, his hand at the small of her back. "I need you to do up a report on the Elders, on their activities since my incarceration. I was not jesting when I said that I am considering demoting those in elevated positions who do not deserve to be there."

Her eyes widened. "No problem. I'll get on that as soon as possible."

He smiled. "You're very efficient."

"Well, I don't want to be demoted." She quipped with a shrug.

He chuckled. "That's probably why I keep you close, you know. You're smart, useful, but you don't kiss my ass like the others do. If anything, you keep my ass in line whenever my Dean side gets a little overpowering."

It was always odd to hear him referring to himself like that, but she guessed he could understand.

Although he was one person he had two sides of himself in one body vying for control, and most of the time he could keep them both balanced, while sometimes the Lucifer side overwhelmed or the Dean side overpowered.

She could handle both sides, so she didn't mind whenever one reared its head and caused her King to be somewhat unbalanced. It was her job to balance him back and make sure the other demons never saw him like that or ever found out he had those episodes. He was their god, and part of her job was to help him transition into his new life as smoothly as possible. So in that sense, she was not only his PA but his PR as well. It was a very busy job, but so far her having worked for Lilith had prepared her well and she was able to handle whatever Dean or Lucifer threw her way...and she planned to continue thus.

"And another thing." Dean continued, going serious once more. "The next demon who tries to force you to decide on a new Groom will get his ass fried by _me_, okay? I'm serious Chloe, don't laugh. If and when you marry its going to be your choice at your time." His features darkened. "I rebelled because my father tried to force me to worship his creations, humans...to love them more than I loved him and I couldn't. He punished me because my feelings weren't hypocritical enough that I could just change them because he wanted me to, and I'm not going to tolerate that happening to my people or my family." He was more Lucifer now, stiffer, sterner, bearing the weight of universes on his shoulders and saddened by the estrangement from a father whom he'd once adored. "I personally will speak to the Elders about this."

She looked up at him, feeling such relief, and before she even knew what she was doing she propelled herself onto her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging his tightly. "_Thank you, My King_."

He was tense in shock, before his arms went around her and he patted her awkwardly. "You're not going to cry or something, are you?"

Dean was apparently back in control.

She chuckled and pulled away, smiling into his face. "Not a chance."

He let out a sigh of pure relief.

She laughed, shaking her head, before blinking away to begin the assignment Dean had given her.

The blonde whistled, in a very good mood now that the pressure to find a Groom had been lifted from her shoulders.

If only she or Dean had noticed Sam before he'd noticed them and hidden around the corner, unable to really hear what they said yet seeing the obvious familiarity between them and then the embrace...and Chloe's serene, incredibly happy face as she hugged Dean and whispered in his ear.

If only Chloe or Dean had noticed him, or realized that Sam had only been able to make out the words 'new Groom', 'serious', 'marry' 'worship' and 'love'...and something about Dean's feelings not being 'hypocritical' as opposed to someone else's...and that he'd put it all together and come out with the wrong conclusion.

If only they'd been able to correct all of Sam's erroneous assumptions, thus avoiding the transitioning demon's anger, jealousy, possessiveness, and murderous rage.

But they didn't see him...didn't realize he believed that his suspicion that Azazel was Dean's father as well was correct and thus Chloe's demon had accepted Dean as her Groom in Sam's place. They didn't realize Sam believed Dean had accepted to be Chloe's 'new Groom', letting her know how 'serious' he was about it, that he wanted to 'marry' her, 'worship' and 'love' her, and that his feelings weren't 'hypocritical' like Sam's were by his wanting to be with her but not change for her.

They didn't know Sam's fears and paranoia had seemingly come true right before of his very own eyes.

Every member of this confusing, lying, secretive family had something they were keeping from someone else, and those secrets were slowly piling up until very soon there'd be a breaking point.

But maybe...just maybe...that was exactly what they needed.

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